Books
Bronze sestertius of Vespasian
from Chichester
from Chichester
General Roman Reading
Abdy, Richard (2024) Legion: Life in the Roman Army. London: British Museum. Published to accompany the excellent exhibition of the same name.
Beard, Mary (2009) Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. London: Profile Books.
Beard, Mary (2016) SPQR. London: Profile Books.
Beard, Mary (2024) Emperor of Rome. London: Profile Books.
de la Bédoyère, Guy (2025) Populus: Living and Dying in the Wealth, Smoke and Din of Ancient Rome. London: Abacus.
Goodman, Martin (1997) The Roman World 44 BC - AD 180. Abingdon: Routledge.
Holland, Tom (2004) Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic. London: Abacus. First of a very readable Roman history trilogy.
Holland, Tom (2016) Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar. London: Abacus.
Holland, Tom (2024) Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age. London: Abacus.
Shelton, Jo-Ann (1998) As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. New York: OUP.
Websites
General
Many translations (and original language versions) of classical texts, plus other resources - such as Codrington's Roman Roads of Britain (1903) - can be found at Bill Thayer's LacusCurtius website
Britain
Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics - ASPROM: The Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics
Roman Britain - is an impressively comprehensive website, covering the majority of Britain's Roman sites. Also includes general background information and text from primary sources.
Roman Inscriptions of Britain - Home | Roman Inscriptions of Britain - an extraordinarily useful resource.
Vindolanda - Vindolanda Trust
Rome
Colosseum, Forum and Palatine - Parco Archeologico del Colosseo
Trajan's Markets - Mercati di Traiano
Ostia
The buildings in Ostia - an impressively comprehensive website, although some of the photos are now dated.
Glossary of Terms
Note - the star rating given to sites described in the blog (one to three stars) is an entirely subjective attempt to highlight the degree of interest for visitors. Sites are rated relative to other sites in the same country, so (for example) a three star site in Britain might only rate one star in Italy.
aditus maximus - main entry corridor into the arena of an amphitheatre or theatre-amphitheatre such as at Lillebonne, France.
ala - cavalry unit (wing) in the auxiliary forces.
ambulatory - covered walkway around the inner shrine (cella) of a temple.
apodyterium - changing room in a Roman bath-house, such as at Chesters fort on Hadrian's Wall (pictured above) or Binchester, County Durham.
apse - a rounded (usually semi-circular) section of a building, often associated with a church but also present in a range of Roman buildings including a basilica.
ashlar masonry - stone blocks that have been finely cut, squared and dressed so as to leave very small gaps for mortar.
basilica - a civic hall used for legal or local government purposes, often sited next to the forum, such as at Caerwent, Wales.
caldarium - hot room in a Roman bath-house, such as at Binchester.
cantharus - two-handled drinking jug - an image often found on Roman mosaics, such as this example from the Corinium Museum in Cirencester (below).
cavea - the tiered seating in a Roman theatre or amphitheatre, such as at Lillebonne, France. This was sometimes split into three sections (maeniana) where people would be seated in line with their social rank: the lower section (imea cavea - or podium) would have seated the local (male) VIPs, the middle section (media cavea) contained the free men, while the lower classes, women and slaves would be in the upper section (summa cavea).
cella - central sanctuary or inner shrine of a temple, such as at Caerwent, Wales.
civitas - literally 'citizenship', but also referring to a unit of people within the Roman empire such as the Durotriges (Dorchester, England) and Silures (Caerwent, Wales). Some such groupings (termed civitates peregrinae) were given a degree of local autonomy by the emperor or his governors.
colonia - a community settled by Roman citizens, often retired army veterans. Examples include Colchester, England (Camulodunum) and Köln, Germany (Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium).
cubiculum - bedroom or other private room in a Roman house.
curia - council chamber, often in a forum or basilica.
exhedra (or exedra) - a semi-circular recess or alcove. In Rome's Imperial Forums this can be a substantial structure.
forum - public square, often a market although also sometimes serving a political function.
frigidarium - cold room in a Roman bath-house, such as at Binchester
hypocaust - central heating system involving a raised floor under which hot air could circulate - for example at Binchester.
in-situ - in its original position.
insula - strictly translated as 'island', in our context this refers to either a street block in a Roman town such as Silchester (usually a with a square shape surrounded by streets) or a multi-storey tenement or block of flats (probably occupied by poorer people) in cities such as Rome or Ostia.
maeniana - sections of seating in a theatre or amphitheatre (see cavea).
mansio - an inn, stopping place or rest station along a Roman road, used especially by government officials.
motte - mound of earth in a medieval castle (usually Norman). One of these was built on a corner of the Roman defences at Caerwent.
nymphaeum - a shrine, cave or grotto - usually involving a fountain or natural spring - dedicated to the water nymphs, such as at Chedworth villa. Nymphs were minor female deities of the Classical age associated with specific natural features.
oecus - principal room or hall in a Roman house.
oppidum - literally a town, but used by Caesar to describe fortified native site in Britain (such as at Silchester) or Gaul.
opus sectile - type of floor or wall covering made from individually cut pieces (usually of marble) arranged to form a geometric pattern. The individual pieces are usually larger than the square cubes (tesserae) that make up a mosaic. An example is in the Senate House (Curia) in the Roman Forum.
orchestra - the flat area between the raised stage and tiered seating in a Roman theatre, usually reserved for high ranking members of the audience. In dual-purpose theatre-amphitheatres found in Gaul and Britain, for example at Lillebonne, this could also be used for other spectacles such as gladiator fights or beast hunts.
pilae - small columns (usually of brick) supporting the floor of a room with a hypocaust.
plutei (single pluteus) - a balustrade or parapet - such as the 'Plutei of Trajan' in the Senate House (Curia) in the Roman Forum.
podium - raised base or platform, often of a Roman temple - such as the Temple of Apollo on Rome's Palatine Hill. In an amphitheatre (or theatre-amphitheatre such as at Lillebonne, France), the podium formed a raised wall and forward seating area reserved for dignitaries - see also cavea.
praetorium - the residence of the commander of a Roman fort.
princeps - "first citizen" - the title adopted by Augustus in 27 BCE when he became sole ruler of Rome. Effectively Rome's first emperor, he maintained a facade of maintaining republican traditions.
principia - the headquarters building in a Roman fort. This sometimes included a basement strongroom (such as at Caernarfon and Chesters forts).
rostra - the speaker's platform in the Roman Forum, decorated with the prows of ships.
stucco - a wall covering (also known as render) made from cement, lime, sand and water.
sudatorium - the hottest room in a Roman bath-house (from sudare, to sweat), for example at Binchester.
temenos - sacred enclosure of a temple within which the inner sanctuary (cella) was sited.
tepidarium - warm room in a Roman bath-house, such as at Binchester.
tesserae - the stone cubes, often of differing colours, used to make a mosaic (singular tessera).
triclinium - dining room in a Roman house.
via principalis - the main street through a Roman fort, usually passing next to the headquarters building (principia) and commander's house (praetorium).
vicus - a civilian settlement, usually outside a Roman fort. The best preserved of these in Britain can be seen at Vindolanda, just south of Hadrian's Wall.
vomitaria - passageways in a Roman theatre or amphitheatre enabling spectators to access and leave their seating areas - for example at Lillebonne.
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